Haywood's Hurt Wrist Might Be Serious

Network News

DALLAS, Oct. 7 -- The Washington Wizards opened the preseason with a 108-82 loss to the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night but that result was hardly the team's primary concern.

Center Brendan Haywood, who has been out since injuring his right wrist last Thursday, will have the wrist examined by a hand specialist in New York on Wednesday.

The injury was originally diagnosed as a sprain but Haywood, who shoots with his right hand, has continued to experience pain and discomfort in the wrist.

According to a source familiar with the situation, Haywood was examined by another specialist Tuesday and that doctor advised him to undergo a surgical procedure that would force him to miss four to six months.

Also according to the source, Haywood will elect to undergo the surgery immediately if Wednesday's examination leads to a similar diagnosis.

"The decision hasn't been made yet but we'll know more," Wednesday, the source said. "The best-case scenario is that he won't need the surgery and he'll be out for a couple of weeks. The worst-case scenario is that he needs the surgery and he'll miss four to six months."

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld said the team is waiting to find out how serious the injury is before drawing any conclusions.

"He's going to meet with the doctor [Wednesday] and once we have more detailed information, we'll go from there," Grunfeld said.

The team received another scare during the first quarter Tuesday night when all-star forward Antawn Jamison went down with a strained patellar tendon in his right knee. Jamison, who did not return to the game, was defending Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki and his right leg appeared to buckle as he planted his right foot.

Jamison dropped to the court in obvious agony while clutching his right knee. He was helped to the locker room by teammates and an athletic trainer. Jamison, who signed a four-year, $50 million contract extension in July, flew with the team to Memphis and will undergo an MRI exam Wednesday.

"It was a scary moment, and it hurt really bad at first," Jamison said. "But once I got back [to the locker room] and got some ice on it, I actually don't feel any pain right now, so that's a good sign. We'll have to wait and see what the MRI says, but I think I'm going to be fine."

The loss of either Haywood or Jamison for a significant amount of time would be a major blow to a team that is already without three-time all-star point guard Gilbert Arenas, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last month and is expected to miss at least the first month of the season.